1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a small depilating appliance which can be held in one hand and is intended to permit removal of superfluous hairs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Small appliances designed for the same purpose are already in existence. Thus French patent Application No. 2,307,491 describes an appliance comprising two pairs of rollers which rotate in opposite directions for plucking-out hairs as they engage between the rollers. This appliance, however, is of limited efficiency by reason of the basic nature of the elements employed for plucking hairs. Another cause of low efficiency of an appliance of this type lies in the fact that the point at which the hairs are effectively gripped between the two rollers or in other words the point of contact between these latter is necessarily set back at a substantial distance with respect to the corresponding end of the casing of the appliance.
French patent Application No. 2,334,320 describes another depilating appliance in which provision is made for a helical spring which rotates about its own axis and the turns of which are alternately expanded and then closed against each other in order to permit engagement of the hairs between the turns of the spring when they are in the expanded state, the hairs being then gripped between the turns as they close in order to be plucked-out by reason of the rotational displacement of the spring about its own axis.
However, the ends of the hairs to be plucked cannot readily engage between the turns of the rotating spring by reason of the helical shape of these latter. For the same reason, the hairs are displaced by the turns in the transverse direction as they rotate, thus having the effect of preventing the hairs from penetrating within the spring to a suitable extent. However, the hairs which have nevertheless succeeded in engaging between the turns are then gripped at only one point, namely at the point of contact between the two turns located on each side. There is therefore a substantial risk of slippage when the spring continues to rotate, in which case the corresponding hairs are not plucked-out by the spring. Finally, no means are provided for subsequent removal of the hairs which have engaged between the turns of the plucking-spring. Such a removal would in any case be very difficult to perform.